Metabolic rate, or metabolism, is the rate at which the body expends energy. This is also referred to as the “caloric burn rate”. Knowing metabolic rate is vital for weight loss.  Testing a person's metabolic rate will determine exactly how many calories she needs to cut to lose weight. Retesting will reveal if her metabolism has been affected by dieting. The only way to really know if someone is burning fat is to test her metabolism.

When it comes to weight loss, there is no such thing as "one size fits all." Each person's metabolism is different based on genetics, eating habits, and fitness level. Each person gains weight for a variety of physical, emotional, and environmental factors. Charts and averages just aren't effective ways to construct a diet plan.


Five Things To Do To Boost Your Metabolic Rate
 
1.    Build Muscle Mass Strength training builds lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories at work or at rest, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be.
 
2.    Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric Intake If your body senses that food is in short supply, it will slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Over time, the result is that when you do eat (even if you consume the same foods as always) your body will be slower to use the calories as fuel, thus creating a backlog of unwanted pounds.
 
3.    Cardiovascular or Aerobic Workout 3 Days per Week Even though exercise doesn't affect your RMR, the extra calories you burn could add up to an additional 1-2 pounds of weight loss per month.
 
4.    Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle The more you move, the more you burn! You can actually make a significant addition to the number of calories you burn each day by relatively minor changes in lifestyle. This can be as simple as window-shop with your best friend rather than sit over coffee; walk the dog instead of just let him out; do a little gardening or clean house while you talk on the phone. Making these types of changes for just 20 minutes of your day will cause you to burn an additional 100 calories per day or an additional pound per month.  
 
5.    Get Adequate Sleep As funny as it sounds, sleep deprivation may make you fat and not just because you're susceptible to cases of the late-night munchies. According to researchers at the University of Chicago, women who got less than four hours of sleep per night had a slower metabolism than those who slept for a full eight hours.

How can you find out your metabolic rate? Ways to Wellness offers the simple 15 minute breathing test. You can also work with a registered dietitian to set up a meal plan that is right for you and your lifestyle. Click here to learn more.

www.woodwinds.org/waystowellness


Adapted from Korr Medical Technologies